TALLAHASSEE -- There's a 70 percent chance that the nation will enter a recession this year, according to nationally known University of Florida economist Dave Denslow Jr.
In a presentation Thursday during the 2008 Florida Press Association/Florida Society of Newspaper Editors Business Editors' Summit in Tallahassee, Denslow also said there's virtually no chance of Florida avoiding a recession if there is a nationwide recession. Yet it is possible for Florida to enter a recession without a nationwide recession. He said there was a 5 percent to 10 percent chance of that scenario happening.
A recession could impact the typical Florida family in a number of ways.
Among them, he said, "there's an increased chance to lose your job," and it will be even tougher than it is now to sell a house.
In addition, retail and auto sales are likely to decline in a recession, and home foreclosures are likely to increase, said Denslow, who is director of the policy studies program for the University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research.